This story was shared with permission from KUNR Public Radio. For an audio version of the story, please visit the KUNR website.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced on June 20 it would spend over $3 million to fund projects that protect the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The funds were part of the administration’s Investing In America agenda, which used $2 billion in investments to restore America’s lands and waters. The initiative sought to include the Washoe Tribe in restoration efforts around Lake Tahoe and mainly addressed invasive species.
Roy Ulibarry, a senior fishery biologist at the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery complex for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, commended the effort to include the tribe in the initiative.
“It’s been great to have this funding opportunity for the Washoe Tribe, to really put them in a leadership role and push for tribal priorities in their ancestral lands,” Ulibarry said.
Most of the funds were allocated to building permanent watercraft inspection stations around Lake Tahoe, which Ulibarry said are a high priority for Aquatic Invasive Species management. Since watercraft inspection stations were introduced in 2008, there have been no new invasive species introduced into the lake.
“We’ve seen how successful they’ve been at stopping aquatic invasive species coming in and so bolstering up those programs is a top priority in this funding source,” he said.
In addition to preventative and eradication measures for invasive species, the Fish and Wildlife Service has also been reintroducing Tahoe’s native Lahontan Cutthroat Trout back into Lake Tahoe. They have tagged 25% of the fish, hoping that anglers who catch them will report these catches to help track distribution, survival, and growth over time.
In addition to these projects, a portion of last year’s $3.4 million were spent on a survey to determine the feasibility of a redesign of the marina in South Lake Tahoe to reduce the safe habitat available to invasive species. In a massive collaboration called the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, implemented by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, benthic barriers–tarps intended to block out sunlight–were installed in the Taylor and Tallac creeks to eradicate Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive aquatic weed.
Sophia Holm is the 2023 summer intern for KUNR and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science. She covers climate news, issues, and solutions in Reno, Lake Tahoe, and surrounding local areas.
